Once, Twice, Three Times Too Late
by Ruby Casablanca
Summary: She guessed she knew what she was signing up for when she put the armor on. Her only regret was that Tony would never know how she really felt about him. What a shame. Rated T for character death and mostly for safety .


Once, Twice, Three Times Too Late

The first time she tried, she almost succeeded.

After all this time waiting, she finally held all of the impossible boy's attention only to be cut short by a missile aimed their way. Her heart deflated immediately. By the time the threat had been neutralized, the moment had been ruined. She was sure she would never hold his attention like that again.

The second time she tried, he cut her off.

He had to call his father to check up on the status of their plan. Everything rested on this weapon working, otherwise they were all dead. Of course, saving the world was far more important that she was now.

And, as always, Tony Stark had managed to come up with the perfect plan.

Though they were being royally beaten up, the charges had been set, and everything was going according to plan. All they had to do was distract the Overlord while Howard blasted the Makluan Disrupter and short circuited the rings. It sounded like it would be easy.

She should've known better.

The disrupter had worked, but the Makulan Overlord refused to give up, rising from off the ground every time he was struck down. Tony was getting weaker and weaker by the moment, and no one seemed to try and help him. She called Gene and ordered him to get everyone off of the ship.

She had a plan.

The plasma repulsors in her suit held enough energy to kick start the explosion, something she hoped would stop the Overlord in his tracks. Though, if she were to do this, the explosion would incinerate her immediately. She guessed she knew what she was signing up for when she put the armor on. Her only regret was that Tony would never know how she really felt about him.

What a shame.

From below, the explosion looked more like a deadly set of fireworks, the ship blowing apart into tendrils of flaming debris, the screeching sound of shredding metal filling the sky overtop the city. As it fell, grey clouds of smoke billowed up over the skyscrapers. Even through all of this, Tony's radar worked perfectly. He could pick up no trace of Gene.

He couldn't find Pepper.

He barely had time to register that they had saved the world, because he couldn't find Pepper. She wasn't on his radar; his scanners couldn't pick up her bio signature. He ran around in the dark and cloudy underworld, searching under every fallen piece of scrap metal until he found something that made his heart stop.

There, lying under a pile of rubble was Pepper's helmet.

The paint was all but scraped off and the head was smashed in, leaving nothing but a flat piece of broken machinery. He couldn't see any of the rest of the suit.

He fell to his knees, grief washing over him in waves.

The blast was too early to have come naturally from the charges themselves. She had to have set them off with her repulsors, he figured. She knew the Overlord was too strong to be left alone, so she acted. She knew the blast would kill her, but she also knew that it would save the world. It was a hero's choice. Rescue had rescued everyone on the planet except herself.

The tears came at his own stupidity.

What was he thinking in making her a suit? Didn't he know from experience how dangerous this life could be? How could he have let her fight this battle? Didn't he know that she would be too inexperienced for this fight when he himself was struggling to survive?

All of the blame, he rested on himself.

She was dead because of him. He never even listened to what she had to say.

Of course, he knew what she was going to tell him, he had known for quite some time now, yet he never let it out of her mouth. Why? They both had wanted the same thing, so why was he so afraid of having her say it? What was holding him back? He supposed that if he was to tell her, he wouldn't want it to be as a last resort, something to say before they all died like,_ "Hey Pep, since the world is about to end and we are probably not going to make it, I just wanted to tell you that I like you, a lot, but hey, if we do survive this somehow, let's go grab dinner sometime!" _

No.

He wanted it to be voluntary, and not because some tragedy forced it. He wanted to tell her in his own way, on his own time, when things were finally normal. Of course, tragedy had forced their end now.

Now, her words would never be said, she would never know, and it was his fault.

The third time, he asked, but it was too late.


End file.
